🇧🇪 Yanina Wickmayer vs 🇳🇱 Suzan Lamens

🎾 WTA Hertogenbosch – First Round

🇧🇪 Yanina Wickmayer vs 🇳🇱 Suzan Lamens

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🧠 Form & Context

Yanina Wickmayer

• 🆙 Grass groove: 2–0 this year on grass after back-to-back wins over Failla and Seidel in qualifying.
• 🧓 Veteran experience: At 35, Wickmayer has seen it all — 75 career grass wins and a final appearance at this very event back in 2009.
• ⛓️ Comeback road: Ranking has plummeted (955) due to injuries and inactivity, but she’s shown flashes of old-school form this week.
• ⚠️ Clay woes: 0–4 on clay this season and early French Open exit to Azarenka highlight movement and physicality concerns.
• 🎯 Controlled aggression: Powerful flat hitting and early ball striking suit grass far more than slower surfaces.

Suzan Lamens

• 📈 Career year: Ranked 72 and climbing with a solid 19–14 season including a QF in Rouen and solid Billie Jean King Cup play.
• 🌱 Grass unknown: 0–0 on grass this season and just 1–6 in her career, signaling limited exposure and adaptability on the surface.
• 🇳🇱 Home hopes: Playing in front of home crowd may lift her, but she’s never gone beyond R16 here (2024).
• 📉 Surface mismatch?: Lamens’ game thrives on clay — her topspin and grinding style could be neutralized by low bounces and slick footing.

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🔍 Match Breakdown

Wickmayer enters with valuable match play on grass already in her pocket and a powerful game tailored to these conditions. Her serve and ability to flatten out shots give her control in rallies, especially against a player who hasn’t yet adapted to grass.

Lamens, while improving overall, has yet to prove herself outside of clay or hard courts. Her movement and defensive patterns may break down on slick turf, and she hasn’t been able to generate wins recently even on preferred surfaces.

This one hinges on Wickmayer’s ability to maintain serve pressure and avoid baseline meltdowns. If she holds her level, she has the tools and court comfort to dominate.

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🔮 Prediction

With grass form, local familiarity, and veteran grass-court confidence on her side, Wickmayer should dictate play. Lamens could compete if the rallies get longer, but this surface plays into Wickmayer’s hands.

🧩 Pick: Wickmayer in 2 sets – Experience and surface advantage favor the Belgian in this clash of generations.